M. P. Cross collection

Milo Parks "M. P." Cross was born September 1, 1895 in Sherman, Texas, to Parks N. Cross and Margaret (Huffstetler) Cross. Before becoming established financially, Parks contracted typhoid fever and died just six weeks before the birth of his son Milo. About a year after the death of Parks, Milo’s mother moved to Georgia to be near her father’s home. Margaret had five children to care for (three boys, two girls), and needed the support of her family. The family learned to be farmers and around 1909 or 1910, purchased a farm in Cherokee County, Georgia. A small river was the dividing line between the Cross’s farm and that of a Mr. Hause. This move led to the beginning of M.P. Cross’s ministry in the Church of God. In 1911 M. P. became acquainted with Hause’s daughter, Lettie Hause. During this time, Milo attended the first Pentecostal services held in that part of Georgia, but he “opposed” the Pentecostal experience. While working in the fields, he heard Lettie Hause shouting and speaking in an unknown tongue. Lettie’s father opposed her dating any of the boys that attended the Pentecostal services but this did not hinder their courtship. In September 1912, Milo Cross was saved in a meeting where Lettie Hause (then only fifteen years old) was preaching. He was sanctified in January 1913, and baptized with the Holy Ghost the following February. Soon after receiving the Holy Ghost, he began conducting prayer meetings in homes and many were saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Spirit. Lettie and M. P. continued their courtship and were married July 16, 1916.

In the same year he and Lettie were married, he received his ministerial license in the Church of God at the age of twenty-one. He distinguished himself early as a productive pastor. After pastoring in Georgia and Michigan, he was appointed overseer of Michigan in 1923. In 1926 he was appointed a member of the first World Missions Board. He helped found the Young People’s Endeavor (YPE) (1929), and was the first state overseer to publish a state paper, the Tennessee Echoes, 1936. Until his retirement in 1956 he continued to serve his church on a state or national level, except for five years of pastoring. He pastored the North Cleveland church in Tennessee from 1933-1934, and the Knoxville (Burlington) church from 1952-1956. He was overseer of Michigan (1923-1932 and 1948-1952); Illinois (1932-1933 and 1945-1948); Tennessee (1934-1938); West Virginia (1938-1941); and South Carolina (1941-1942). He was the first Executive Secretary, (now Director) of World Missions from 1942-1945.

Lettie Cross preached many revival services in addition to her active role as pastor’s wife. M. P. Cross was married to Lettie Hause Cross for sixty-six years and they had three children. A son, Louis H. Cross, (also a pastor and administrator in the Church of God); a daughter, Cecil Cross Norris; and one son who died at six years of age in 1933, Donald Cross. Lettie Hause Cross died in 1972. In 1973 M. P. Cross married Eva Cannon.

The M. P. Cross Memorial Scholarship Fund was set up in memory of Rev. Cross. It is designed to help students studying in any Church of God school who are preparing for a missions ministry. On March 15, 1985 the Church of God School of Theology dedicated their chapel and named it the Cross Memorial Chapel in honor of these two great pioneers of the faith, M.P. and Lettie Cross. In addition, an endowment fund was established to assist graduate students with their educational expenses.